Automated robot devices which perform basic cleaning and maintenance tasks are common today. A typical cleaning device is usually made up of two main parts, a cleaning robot and a docking station. The docking station receives information from sensors located on the cleaning device and maps out the environment. The cleaning robot performs tasks based on environment details provided by the docking station. To begin the process of cleaning an area, the cleaning device synchronizes with the associated docking station. The synchronization lets the cleaning robot know where the docking station is located in reference to where the cleaning robot travels. Also, the docking station charges the cleaning robot when the battery power of the cleaning robot depletes.
Known cleaning robots typically begin the cleaning process by first sending an infrared signal to the docking station. Based on the time required for the signal to be deflected back to the cleaning robot, the cleaning robot will know how long the cleaning robot should spend cleaning the room. After a cleaning time for the area is established, the cleaning robot performs the task of cleaning the area. A cleaning robot moves in a programmed algorithmic path and relies on sensors located on the cleaning robot to guide the cleaning robot through the environment. An object sensor may help redirect the cleaning robot if it encounters an obstacle which cannot be moved. The cleaning robot may include a wall sensor with a primary function of outlining the walls of the area the cleaning robot is cleaning. When the cleaning robot encounters a wall, the cleaning robot uses the infrared sensors to mark up the edges of the room to make operations more efficient. All of this sensor information is relayed to the docking station where it is processed and a path is established for the cleaning robot.
Time constraints that the docking station establishes to clean a certain area may not allow for the algorithmic pattern to cover the whole area desired to be cleaned. The algorithmic pattern may also overlap paths, relaying to the cleaning robot to travel over a cleaned area. The algorithmic pattern exists to conserve battery life so the cleaning robot can clean multiple rooms between charges. Such a known cleaning process does not take into account that the user might only want certain areas of a room cleaned rather than the whole room since the cleaning robot is only bound by physical objects rather than certain established areas.